Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/961821
44 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2018 (April / May) The Tea Studio project It is against this backdrop that Khanna developed the inspired idea of Tea Stu- dio. Through his experience in the spe- cialty tea market, Khanna recognized that there is "an existent and rapidly growing market opportunity for high-end, small lot Nilgiri tea." And what he has created at Tea Studio is entirely different from traditional, industrial factories, and is in- stead a small-scale, cottage industry unit which buys fine-plucked leaf from local smallholders and turns it into unusual artisanal teas using machinery and meth- odology imported from China. Khanna and his team are confident that the qual- ity teas being made will gradually raise awareness amongst local smallholders and inspire them to improve their pluck- ing standard and sell what Khanna calls 'super fine-plucked' fresh leaf (one bud and one open leaf) to Tea Studio for a much higher price (around 80-130 rupees per kilo) than the 10-15 rupees per kilo paid by the big factories. Instead of using sickles to har- vest the tea and allowing the leaf to lie around before delivering it to nearby factories, the pluckers are being trained by Khanna to pick by hand, to only gather one leaf and a bud, and to deliver the leaf to Tea Studio as quickly as possible. Changing the farmers' attitudes, understanding, and plucking skills will take time, patience, and training, but Tea Studio is optimistic that, as local growers realize that careful plucking means higher prices for fresh leaf, better quality teas for the growing specialty tea market, and a continuing demand for good leaf, they will recognize the sustainable, long-term benefits for everyone involved. As Kevin Gascoyne, one of four owners of Camellia Sinensis, Canada, which is a member of the Tea Studio partnership, explains: "We believe that raising the quality bar also has an effect on the pride and connection felt towards the product for all in- volved in the chain from the garden to the cup." One new supplier of leaf, Gurjit Singh Cheema, is a retired Indian Army major general who recently acquired an abandoned 25-acre tea garden that was completely overgrown with lantana, weeds, and other trees. Working with a team from a nearby village, Cheema has slowly and lovingly uncovered and refurbished the tea, and the hand-plucked leaf is now delivered regularly to Tea Studio for processing. But Tea Studio is more than just a factory. It is already becoming a center for research and experimentation in collaboration with tea research institutes and tea pro- ducers from China, Taiwan, Japan, Nepal, and other parts of India. The tea bushes in the region are a mix of seed-grown assa- mica and clonal plants. Tea Studio plans to acquire more land around the factory and plant other varietals and cultivars to broaden and improve the range of pos- sible tea flavors and aromas. Also, with its ground-breaking design (which incor- porates a raised, open-plan walkway at first floor level so that visitors can view what is happening on the factory floor), the unit is intended to accommodate not just local tea makers but also groups of visitors who wish to understand and learn tea processing for themselves under the instruction of the factory team. And, as Gascoyne explained, "With plans to use the Tea Studio as a part-time educational Indi Khanna cupping The Studio's range of specialty teas. Khanna at work in the first floor office